MEDFORD, Mass. — 

United States Coast Guard Academy track & field senior Tara Jessen (Signal Mountain, Tenn.) racked up 3,284 points at the New England Division III Pentathlon at Tufts University to set a new Academy record in the contest. The previous record. Jessen's mark broke the previous record of 3,262 set by Abby Bishop '14 in 2014.

Jessen entered the day as the eighth overall seed in the contest but placed third to earn her first All-New England honors in pentathlon. She started the day with a new personal record in the 60m Hurdles, running 9.66 seconds to remain fourth on the program's all-time list. Jessen climbed the USCGA high jump leaderboard later on with a 1.54 meter (5' 0.5") clearance, smashing her personal best by 0.06m while landing her in a three-way tie for second place and moving her up to fifth-best in program history.

Jessen made it three personal bests in the shot put with a best heave of 9.03 meters (27' 7.5") for fifth place, and she added another PR almost 30 minutes later with a 4.97-meter (16' 3.25") long jump, tying her for seventh in Bears history. Jessen closed out the day with a gutsy and aggressive win in the 800 Meters, coming back from sixth place to cross the line in 2:20-flat. The time was another personal best for the senior, making her 5-for-5 on the day in that regard.

Bears women's track & field will be active between two meets during the upcoming weekend. Saturday, February 28th, sees Allie Wildsmith (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) competing in the USA Track & Field Indoor Championships in Staten Island, New York, while he rest of the team will take on the NED3 Indoor Championships at the TRACK at New Balance on the following Sunday.